And Don’t Miss . . .

A recent op-ed piece in the New York Times declared young earth creationist thinking to be “antediluvian anti-intellectualism” and predicted leaders who think that way will “go the way of the dinosaurs.” The columnist particularly mocks those who believe dinosaurs lived at the same time as man. Yet as we so often discuss, the “science” on which old-earth beliefs is based is historical science and relies on worldview-based assumptions and interpretations of scientific data rather than testable verifiable scientific observations. The columnist specifically misrepresented the Ark Encounter project planned for Kentucky. Below is a response letter that Answers in Genesis’s CCO Mark Looy sent to the New York Times. Though the letter met the length limitations specified by the newspaper, the paper has not printed the response. We therefore are posting it below.

Editor:

A December 8 op-ed led readers to the wrong conclusion about the proposed Ark Encounter attraction in northern Kentucky. A columnist declared that the historically themed Noah’s Ark attraction will be built “with $43 million in state tax incentives.”1

In reality, no state money will build the Ark Encounter. Now, if the finished Ark meets attendance goals and sees tourism dollars flow into the state, it will receive rebates on sales taxes paid by its visitors. At the end of an operating year, the rebate that will go back to the completed attraction will come from those who chose to visit. No unwilling taxpayer will subsidize the Ark, and thus there is no establishment of religion. Neither is anyone being forced to visit and hear about the history of the Earth according to the Bible, including its account of the Ark and Flood.

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